A sudden strong wind blew through the cave, blinding Du Heng and Yun Zhonghe. Yan Buhui’s voice echoed through the cave: “A breakthrough! What kind of elixir is this!”

Yan Buhui dropped a peanut into his mouth, and in that moment, he felt as if he hadn’t swallowed a peanut, but an elixir! He felt a surge of powerful spiritual energy erupt from his mouth, sweeping through his meridians. He felt the millennia-long restraint begin to loosen. Powerful spiritual energy flowed through his meridians, converging upward toward his Zifu and downward toward his dantian.

He was about to break through!

This breakthrough came swiftly and violently. Before Yan Buhui could even grasp his inner peace, thunderstorms erupted all around him. The hilltop where Du Heng and the others were standing bore the brunt of the thunderstorm. With a resounding boom, the mountain above the cave was toppled by the thunder!

 The gust of wind whipped up by the spiritual energy blew the sand and rocks in the cave, as well as the items on Du Heng’s stove into disarray. Du Heng opened his mouth and a mouthful of spiritual rice flew into his mouth! He struggled to open his eyes and swallow the rice, only to see Yan Buhui enveloped in a red light like a giant bulb!

Yun Zhonghe tugged at Du Heng, “Let’s go! We’ll die if we stay here!” Du Heng asked, “Where can we go?” Yun Zhonghe tugged at Du Heng, “Follow me!”

Before leaving, Du Heng stuffed the Brahma Chicken that had flown in front of him into his storage bag. Unfortunately, he couldn’t take the pots and pans with him. Yun Zhonghe turned and saw Du Heng stuffing the chicken. He was furious, “It’s such a time, and you still have the mind to care about these things!”

Du Heng said solemnly, “Wasting food is shameful!”

Yun Zhonghe and Du Heng hurriedly fled into the cave. Du Heng looked back and saw Yan Buhui sitting cross-legged in the middle of the cave, meditating. Thunderbolts struck relentlessly, shaking the entire cave. Rocks rained down from the ceiling. Du Heng and Yun Zhonghe fled in panic.

At the back of the cave lay a narrow passage. Yun Zhonghe hurriedly pushed aside the rocks in front of it. “I discovered this passage a few days ago. There’s a cliff on the other side, and I see there’s a river below. With our current cultivation, we might still survive if we jump down.”

Du Heng had never seen anything like this. He and Yun Zhonghe finally squeezed their way to the end of the path. He looked up only to see leaden clouds overhead as if the sky was about to collapse. Looking down, he saw a thin river below like a thin white line from above. Du Heng gasped. “Go down from here?” This height… hundreds of meters, right? We’ll die, right? We’ll definitely die!

As they spoke, a thunderbolt struck the two men’s heads. They clutched their heads as several huge rocks crashed down, showering them with dust.  Yun Zhonghe placed a talisman on Du Heng. “This isn’t just any talisman. It can protect you if you fall from a height.” Du Heng noticed with a sharp eye that Yun Zhonghe had only placed one on himself. He anxiously asked, “What about you?”

Yun Zhonghe gritted his teeth and said, “Don’t worry about me. My cultivation is higher than yours.” Yun Zhonghe himself barely believed what he said. He had just had his cultivation sealed, and was no match for Du Heng. How could Du Heng not know? He wasn’t the type to abandon his brothers for fear of death. He hugged Yun Zhonghe tightly, “Good brother, let’s jump together. I can’t leave you alone.”

A faint blush crossed Yun Zhonghe’s face. “You’re still being cheesy at this hour.” Yun Zhonghe pulled an umbrella from his sleeve. “This is the Thousand Manifestations Umbrella. I hope it can cover both of us.”

After Du Heng yelled “three, two, one,” the two of them flew out of the cave entrance behind the cliff. Honestly, it wasn’t a pleasant feeling. The world before him kept spinning, and Du Heng was dizzy. All he could do was hold Yun Zhonghe tightly. Yun Zhonghe carried the faint scent of medicinal herbs, it was the only thing that made Du Heng feel at ease amid the dusty air.

Yun Zhonghe held the Thousand Manifestations Umbrella tightly in both hands. The thin canopy was already swollen, and the delicate ribs creaked softly. The two of them were like two weights hanging from the umbrella. The Thousand Manifestations Umbrella swayed back and forth under the strong wind, then slowly stabilized and floated downward.

Du Heng was almost overjoyed. Were all umbrellas in the cultivation world this powerful? It was so much more powerful than those in the real world!

 Du Heng heard someone calling from the mountains and rivers, “Junior Brother Yun—” Yun Zhonghe suddenly perked up, “Senior Brother—I’m here!!” Sharp-eyed Du Heng saw similar small white umbrellas floating down from several surrounding hilltops. He asked suspiciously, “Did you and your fellow brothers conspire to escape today?”

Yun Zhonghe paused for a moment, then said unhappily, “You’re overthinking it. If it weren’t for the Tribulation Cloud that shattered the Demon Realm’s restrictions, do you think we could have escaped the cave?” Du Heng looked up at the Thousand Manifestations Umbrella and asked, “So everyone’s carrying an umbrella?”

Yun Zhonghe said, “This is standard equipment for inner disciples of the sect. We medical practitioners aren’t highly skilled in magic, so we rely on magical instruments and treasures for protection.” Du Heng understood: medical practitioners are fragile and lack combat effectiveness. No wonder the Demon Lord was able to abduct eight of them at once…

Even when protected by the Thousand Manifestations Umbrella and talismans, the two still plunged heavily into the icy water. Du Heng realized then that this world was winter, covered in frost and snow. Yun Zhonghe struggled a few times before choking on the water. He seemed to have injured his leg and was unable to move. Yun Zhonghe’s body involuntarily fell into the water. He didn’t have the strength to fold up the Thousand Manifestations Umbrella which carried him downstream. Du Heng pulled Yun Zhonghe back, “You lost your umbrella!”

He began to understand Yun Zhonghe’s feelings when he saw him collecting the chicken. It was such a time, and he still cared about material possessions. Yun Zhonghe struggled a few times, “I’m not a good swimmer…” Du Heng picked him up from behind and swam him to shore, “It’s okay, don’t move.”

That being said, swimming in icy water with a living person was quite difficult. Fortunately, the other brothers from Medicine King Valley arrived quickly, and the two men didn’t drown.

The man who came was Fang Lin, Yun Zhonghe’s senior brother. Yun Zhonghe and Du Heng shivered with cold. Fang Lin hurriedly placed a talisman on Yun Zhonghe. “Junior Brother Yun, are you feeling better?” Du Heng, shivering like a quail beside him, asked: “…Is the discrimination so obvious?”

Yun Zhonghe’s pale complexion finally cleared up, and it took him a while to recover. “Thank you, Senior Brother Fang. Where are the other senior brothers?” Fang Lin looked up at the sky. “They must have been blown away by the strong wind. As long as they can get out of the prison, they’ll find a way back to Medicine King Valley.”

Fang Lin asked Yun Zhonghe, “Junior Brother Yun, have you cultivated the Out-of-Body Pill for that demon?” Yun Zhonghe shook his head. He peeled off the talisman and placed it on Du Heng. Du Heng then felt his frozen clothes drying rapidly, and his nearly unconscious body slowly warmed up.

 Yun Zhonghe said, “It wasn’t me. Yan Buhui ate Du Heng’s food, and then he achieved a breakthrough.” Hearing Yun Zhonghe’s words, Fang Lin looked at Du Heng in confusion. Du Heng gave Fang Lin a flattering smile, his face full of innocence.

Fang Lin said, “Let’s get out of here quickly. We’re still in the Demon Sect’s territory. Yan Buhui is undergoing his tribulation now, so it’s the perfect time to leave.” Yun Zhonghe pressed his leg and frowned. “It’s broken… I think he hit a rock in the water on the way down.”

Fang Lin yelled at Du Heng, “How did you protect Junior Brother Yun?” Yun Zhonghe said, “Don’t blame Du Heng. He did his best.” Fang Lin said, “Don’t panic, Junior Brother Yun. I have elixirs here. Top-quality bone-growing elixirs. You’ll be healed in an hour.”

Since Du Heng woke up, he’s learned two things: first, the sect brothers in Medicine King Valley are truly united and friendly; second, he’s just a handyman. Ah, what a painful realization.

 Fang Lin, carrying Yun Zhonghe on his back, trotted briskly across the snowy terrain while Du Heng stumbled behind. Fang Lin cursed Du Heng as he ran, “Other outer disciples would die for the inner disciples, but you, on the other hand, only cause us trouble. If it weren’t for you, Junior Brother Yun wouldn’t have had his cultivation sealed by the demon!”

Yun Zhonghe said, “As soon as Master returns, my seal will be lifted. Now I’m worried about something else.” Fang Lin was puzzled, “What is it?”

Yun Zhonghe said, “If Yan Buhui succeeds in achieving a transcendental state, the Taixu Realm will have another transcendental master, and the world of cultivation will be in chaos again.” After saying this, Yun Zhonghe turned back to look at Du Heng, his eyes filled with even greater worry.

The thunder tribulations of the transcendental state were truly terrifying. Fortunately, Du Heng and his companions ran fast. After they passed several hilltops, they looked back and saw that the hilltop they had jumped from had vanished. And in the leaden clouds above, a figure was undergoing the test of numerous thunder tribulations. Who else could it be but the Demon Lord Yan Buhui?

 Du Heng felt a pang of pain. What had he done wrong? What kind of hell had he come to?

The sky gradually darkened, the snow grew thicker beneath his feet, and Du Heng’s strength grew weaker. Finally, he couldn’t bear it anymore and fell to his knees in the snow with a plop: “I can’t walk anymore…”

Fang Lin spat: “God damn it! If the demon wasn’t undergoing a tribulation, we’d still be able to fly our swords. How long will it take for us to escape the Demon Realm on foot?” Yun Zhonghe said: “I just received a message from the other senior brothers. They’ve found a mountaintop sheltered from the wind and snow. Du Heng, come here.”

Du Heng struggled to his feet. Yun Zhonghe handed him a jade bottle: “This is the Qigong Pill.” Du Heng happily accepted it: “Oh, thank you.”

Yun Zhonghe chuckled: “I thought you’d blame me for not giving it to you before.” Du Heng smiled: “Your things are yours. It’s up to you whether you give them to me or not.” Yun Zhonghe smiled: “You’ve really changed a lot since before. This Qigong Pill is only for those at the Foundation Establishment stage and above. It’s full of spiritual energy. You’ll feel bloated if you eat it.”

Du Heng poured out a pill and said, “Then I’ll just eat half.” In the light of the snow, he saw the Qigong Pill: a small, yellow, pea-sized pill. It was slightly rough with an indescribable aroma.

Du Heng carefully bit through half of it with his teeth. He was so excited. This was something from the world of cultivation, the legendary Qigong Pill! The kind that would keep you from feeling hungry for three days after taking one.

Du Heng’s face quickly fell. He smacked his lips, “What a strange taste…” It tasted like bran, bland and slightly bitter. It was nothing like the delicious candy beans he’d imagined!

Big liar, give me back my feelings!